OWN CORRESPONDENT, Gabarone | Thursday 6.00pm
THE Southern African Development Community said on Thursday that it will back a bid by four members states to seek permission from world trade authority Cites to sell off stockpiles of ivory.
The 14-nation SADC will support the requests of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, the group’s executive secretary, Preg Ramsamy said. “Sales will not encourage poaching,” Ramsamy said. “In fact, we need more revenue from the sales to put up management structures for the elephants.”
The four countries will make the request at the 11th conference of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) in the Kenyan capital Nairobi from April 10 to 20.
At the last Cites meeting in Harare in 1997, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe were given permission to sell their legal ivory stocks, ending a 10-year ban. The stocks were sold to Japan last year. Botswana has already indicated that it will ask Cites in April to allow it to sell 12 tons of its ivory stockpile annually, and to sell live elephants as well as hides and leather goods.
Namibia and Zimbabwe are expected to ask Cites to legalise regular annual quotas for ivory sales.
South Africa has said it will ask Cites to downlist its elephant population from an appendix I to appendix II protected species to allow limited trade in ivory. Kenya and India are expected at the meeting to argue their long-standing position that Cites revert to a total ban on ivory trade, arguing that a partial lifting of the prohibition only encourages poaching. — AFP